ATELIER COLÓN



Los Angeles 

PROFILE



Atelier Colón is a Los Angeles-based architecture and interior design studio. Established by Jorge Colón in 2024, the atelier operates within commercial, residential, and hospitality settings in order to deliver beautifully crafted building projects and interior renovations.  The creative work of the studio is centered on creating memorable experiences that elevate and enlighten the human spirit. Clients benefit from a focused and personalized design process and from close collaboration with teams of builders, manufacturers, and suppliers, resulting in intelligent and highly tailored design solutions.


The atelier also places a special interest in the adaptive reuse and renovation of pre-existing building structures―where found conditions are engaged with enthusiasm, and where layers of history are leveraged as meaningful contributions to visual and material expression.


PRACTICE AREAS



Adaptive Re-Use
New Building Projects
Interior Architecture
Residential and Mixed-Use
Art Fabrication and Installation















ADAPTIVE RE-USE


AIA Arizona Headquarters
Phoenix, AZ

AIA Arizona’s headquarters is located within the historic 1920 neoclassical Walker Building in downtown Phoenix. The flexible and fluid interior has operated as a public forum for design advocacy, a functional office for AIA, seminar space for emerging professionals, and a community gathering place for special events. The gallery-like environment is defined by the placement of horizontal and vertical plans that sculpt space, provide surfaces for exhibition, and manipulate the natural light filling the interior. Visitors are guided from space to space―each brought to life by the activities of its staff, the content that they provide, and the guests that they host. Completed in collaboration with Mark Roddy.












INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE


LACMA Administrative Offices
Los Angeles, CA

In preparation for LACMA’s campus expansion, the museum required work office space to house their leadership, curatorial, collections, exhibition, facilities, and public outreach teams. The design brief focused on meeting the LACMA’s cultural aspirations and operational needs. The resulting 52,000 sf workplace offers LACMA staff an open, light-filled, and flexible work environment that promotes staff connectivity while supporting their administrative and curatorial activities. Formal and informal activity is commingled as staff transition from a dense and diverse program that includes private and open offices, collaboration areas, a staff lounge, archival library, and thermally controlled storage―all staged within a conventional office tower. Completed as Director of Architecture and Interior Design while at CO Architects.














NEW BUILDING PROJECTS


Papago Gateway Center 
Tempe, AZ

The 6-story, 233,000 sf building was conceived as a hybrid office/laboratory building. As one the the City of Tempe’s first privately developed project to achieve formal certification for leadership in energy and environmental design, the project was designed to accommodate the efficiency needs of traditional office tenants, and the technically robust needs of laboratory tenants interchangeably. Locally, the project is most often identified by its double skin louver system―an ever changing texture of mechanized louvers that open and close to mitigate the harsh Arizona sunlight.  The highly responsive skin maintains visibility to the surrounding landscape, and maximizes the use of natural light in the interior, while reducing costly building cooling loads.  At the time completion, this project represented the largest deployment of an operable louver building skin in North America. Completed while at SmithGroup.





















RESIDENTIAL


Monaghan Residence
Maricopa County, AZ

The design brief for a new 2,400 sf residence focused on creating a compound arrangement of structures and outdoor spaces for a growing family of four. Programmatic space requirements included intimate family spaces for cooking, dining , and gathering, supplemented by individual spaces for writing, listing ot music, and play space.  Public and private spaces are organized within two bars. The south bar, capped by two small private courtyards, contains the bedrooms. The more public north bar is designed for hosting and family gatherings. Large windows maintain views to a larger courtyard, and the Sonoran Desert beyond. The positioning of the bars reduce direct solar exposure, while maximizing views to the desert. A metal roof, exposed concrete block, and concrete floors provide a tough and resilient palette of materials. The butterfly roof is designed to collect water into a small pool―further cooling the protected shaded spaces, and setting the stage for a future water harvesting system. Completed in collaboration with Victoria Snively.













RESIDENTIAL


Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
 
The 65,000 sf privately developed community located at the southern edge of ASU’s Tempe Campus, consists of six residential clusters housing students from various academic units.  Collectively, the arrangement of the clusters form a central gathering space to promote a sense of community, and establish a pedestrian mall and bike path. Individually, a private courtyard and interior dining and meeting spaces promote a sense of identity for each organization and cluster.  Current residents include students from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and the College of Global Futures, who utilize their courtyard as both a social space and an area to maintain gardens and planting.  Completed as Architect-of-Record while at GouldEvans.


















ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL



JORGE JOSE COLÓN  
AIA, IIDA

Jorge is a licensed architect with over 25 years of experience delivering commercial, residential, and institutional projects of varying types and scales. Working with clients such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Times, and the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, he has cultivated expertise in new building projects, large-scale interior renovations, and commissioned art projects. Jorge has held formal teaching appointments at Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico, and has been guest critic and lecturer at universities throughout North America. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master of Architecture from Arizona State University, and a Master in Design Studies from Harvard University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and currently serves as Co-Director of the IIDA Southern California Los Angeles City Center.





ATELIER COLÓN © LOS ANGELES CA